7 Things Every Mother Needs to Tell Her Daughter About Breast Cancer Prevention By Marnie Clark

7 Things Every Mother Needs to Tell Her Daughter About Breast Cancer Prevention

Benjamin
Franklin’s old saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure” is never more appropriate than when it comes to breast cancer
prevention. According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, at
least 33 percent of breast cancer is preventable. Many natural health
practitioners suspect that percentage is actually much higher. By simply
adopting healthy lifestyle practices, it is estimated that you can
bring that breast cancer prevention figure closer to 50 percent.
It
is crucial to learn the things that can put women at higher risk for
breast cancer. Not only do you want to avoid these risk factors, but
also teach your daughters (and sisters and friends) about them. As a
breast cancer coach, I always discuss these important breast cancer
prevention tips with my clients.

7 Tips for Breast Cancer Prevention

Better Nutrition Comes from Whole Foods and Organic Foods

A
healthy diet that provides good nutrition is the foundation of having
good health. It is critical to teach our children how to eat wholesome
nutritious foods and avoid packaged, processed foods. The goal is to
avoid or minimize sugar, and to get back to the basics of wonderfully
prepared natural and organic whole foods including vegetables, fruits,
grains, legumes, and high quality free-range animal foods. Our bodies
were designed to operate optimally on a whole foods diet (not a
processed foods diet) and certainly not on chicken nuggets, soft drinks,
and French fries.
The need for everyone to eat organic produce is
at an all-time high due to our fruits and vegetables being so highly
sprayed with cancer-causing pesticides. Many foods are genetically
modified and it is becoming increasingly clear that GMOs are not safe
for us to consume. In addition, soil depletion is occurring, which
yields crops that are lower in nutrients than what was being produced
just a few decades ago.
Organically grown animal foods are also a
much better choice because conventionally raised animals are being
pumped full of hormones and antibiotics that are increasing the
incidence of breast cancer. These factory farmed animals also eat a diet
that is unnaturally high in foods (corn and soy) that promote
inflammation (high in omega-6 fats) when we consume them. Choosing
organic produce and animal foods (preferably pasture-raised because
these animals are, for the most part, eating what nature intended them
to eat and will be much lower in omega-6 fats) not only decreases your cancer risk, it is also much better for the planet.

Avoid Toxic Cosmetics and Personal Care Products

Toxic
chemicals are now present in just about everything we use in our homes
and on our bodies, from dish washing liquid to eye shadow. These
chemicals (and there are about 70,000 of them) are known hormone
disrupters.
In addition to being toxic and carcinogenic, these
substances can increase the estrogen load in the body over time and are
difficult to detoxify through the liver. Called “xenoestrogens” (foreign
estrogens), they mimic our body’s own estrogen and can alter hormone
activity. Growing evidence implicates xenoestrogens in a wide range of
human health problems, including breast cancer.
The easy solution
is to use non-toxic or organic personal care products and cosmetics. It
is important to know that the word “natural” on the label means almost
nothing because the product can still contain toxic chemicals. It is
best to look for organic certification on the label and to know what
ingredients to watch out for. What goes on your skin gets in your
bloodstream so it’s important to be proactive about this and to minimize
toxic chemicals. What’s in your bloodstream can easily circulate
throughout your body and into cells that create your hormones and
organs.
Personally, I scrutinize every single thing I put
on my body and I suggest you do as well. From nail polish (don’t use
it) to hair spray to mascara. A good source of information to determine
the relative safety (or dangers) of ingredients in personal care
products and cosmetics is the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database.

Move Your Body

The
American Cancer Society estimates that half of all cancer deaths could
be avoided by practicing healthy lifestyle habits such as simple
exercise. Recent research tells us that obesity, especially in the
middle-adult years, increases the risk of breast cancer.
It is
important to teach your daughter an active lifestyle and it is best to
lead by example. Take her hiking, skating, for long walks in parks, have
her participate in sports, ballet, dancing. Whatever gets her moving
and enjoying physical activity! Also, tell her why it is so important.

Keep Your Cell Phone Away from Your Body and Out of Your Bra

Studies
have determined that heavy use of cell phones increases the chance for
brain tumors. Children are more vulnerable to electromagnetic
frequencies because they have thinner skull bones and smaller heads.
Their brain tissue also has a higher conductivity and this puts them at a
higher risk.
Although there does not at present appear to be any
studies which link breast cancer risk with cell phone use, I have seen
too many women use their bras to hold their cell phones. As a cancer
coach, I know of several women who tucked their cell phones into their
bras and later developed breast cancer in that breast.
A doctor at
an alternative cancer clinic being interviewed stated that three women
under his care at that time for breast cancer had very often placed
their cell phones either under the bra strap or in their bra and
developed a tumor in that exact location! We may not know for sure that
cell phones cause breast cancer, but it is relatively simple to put your
cell phone elsewhere, away from your body.

Use Meditation or Other Relaxation Techniques

It
has long been known that prolonged periods of unmanaged stress can lead
to diseases such as cancer. Nearly every one of my coaching clients
tells me that they were under an extraordinary load of stress in the
lead-up to their breast cancer diagnosis. Doctors tend to refute this,
but science is starting to catch up and understand how cortisol, the
main hormone that is released during periods of stress, can lead to
disease such as breast cancer.
One of the best things you can
teach your daughter is meditation. Children who learn how to meditate
and relax deal more effectively with stress. They also learn how to live
in the moment more often, how to distance themselves from stress and
anxiety, and how to settle their minds, thus reducing cortisol levels
and so much more. Again, this is about you leading by example because if
your daughter still lives at home with you, she may be less likely to
do this if she doesn’t see you doing it. If you don’t know how, perhaps
you can learn and meditate together.

Don’t Smoke and Don’t Drink Alcohol (or Keep it to a Minimum)

You’ve
heard this before and it’s so important that it bears repeating. Both
smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol puts you at a higher risk for
breast cancer, other cancers, and heart disease. Smoking has been linked
with increased cancer risk, especially if someone smokes regularly
before their first child. If you or your daughter smokes and has trouble
quitting, switch to American Spirit additive-free cigarettes. Even
better and cheaper is to roll your own with non-toxic paper using
organic tobacco. Even getting away from commercial cigarette brands is a
huge step in the right direction.
Studies on alcohol have shown
that compared with non-drinkers, people that have one alcoholic drink
per day have a small increase in risk. However those who have two to
five drinks daily increase their breast cancer risk by one-and-a-half
times over those who do not drink alcohol.

Avoid Birth Control Pills

Most
doctors, after writing a prescription for birth control pills, likely
don’t tell their patients, “you are increasing your risk of cancer”.
Oral contraceptives increase a woman’s risk of certain cancers. In
particular, cancers of the breast, cervix, and liver, says the National
Cancer Institute’s own website. A recent study done with African
American women revealed that oral contraceptive use increased the risk
of estrogen-receptor positive, estrogen-receptor negative, and triple
negative breast cancers. The risk declined after a woman stopped using
oral contraceptives, but was still a causative factor for
estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer for up to 15-19 years after stopping, and even longer for estrogen-receptor negative breast cancer.

Teaching Breast Cancer Prevention by Example

Simply
understanding the factors that puts women at a higher risk for breast
cancer is not enough. It’s critical for you to live by example and if
you don’t know, then learn these things for yourself and teach them to
your daughter. Encourage your daughter to be proactive with her health
and not expect her doctor to take care of her because they either can’t
or won’t.
Each one of us has our own responsibility to be properly informed about breast cancer prevention and websites such as The Truth About Cancer
will give you trustworthy and accurate information you can follow. It’s
now up to you to take the necessary steps… both for your sake and for
the women you love.

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About Marnie Clark

Marnie
Clark has been passionately studying natural medicine since 1995 when
her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Marnie herself went through
breast cancer in 2004 and learned how to heal using both conventional
and natural medicine. She now teaches what she learned on her journey,
along with patient empowerment and how to thrive during and after breast
cancer using food and natural medicine. Marnie is a natural therapist,
bodyworker, aromatherapist, mother of one, and grandmother of two. You
can find out more about Marnie on her website: MarnieClark.com